A Month of Thanks-Givings

With all the stress and sorrow of re-homing Riley, October was not an easy month on me.  I started getting a really bad headache towards the end of the month, and it lasted for two weeks.  Since I never get headaches, this one was especially disconcerting to me.  I had to stay home sick from work one day because the headache was so bad, it made me nauseated.  I went to the doctor, who said it was a severe tension headache and sent me home with a drug RX and told me to get a massage.  The massage therapist asked me if anything was going on in my life that might be contributing to the headaches and tension, and I couldn't think of anything at the time.  But then I realized how traumatic it has been to be without Riley.  I hadn't thought a loss like that could give me headaches, but I guess my body expresses pain and stress through neck and shoulder tension.  Who knew?

Needless to say, I've been pretty down in the dumps lately.  And when I feel down, I find other things to feel down about.  We owe too much money on student loans, we don't have enough or our things aren't good enough, or we don't do enough.  I'm not sure who is judging the "enough" part about our lives, but I find things that other people have and get envious and unhappy with the things I have.  It's one of my greatest faults, and I think envy is the one thing that makes me unhappy.

So it's time to turn my thought patterns around.  It's not about things, it's about people and experiences.  And it's not about comparing our lives to other peoples lives.  It's about creating our world to make us happy.  When I stop to think about the things that make me happy and the things that I'm thankful for, my life seems so much better, more complete.  Some of my friends have been doing a Thanksgiving countdown on Facebook or on their blogs, listing things they're thankful for on each day of November until Thanksgiving.

First and foremost, I'm thankful for Bryann Turner.  I think in this wedding photo, you can see how much he loves me.  I've married the most generous, loving, giving man in the entire universe.  He is a phenomenal husband, and he'll be an amazing father.  I'm incredibly blessed by this man, and all of the joy he brings to my life.